By GINNAH MINI
CENTRAL Governor Rufina Peter has demanded answers from Prime Minister James Marape over the whereabouts of K17.4 million allocated to the province under the 2026 Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas (PNG LNG) Infrastructure Development Grant (IDG).
Governor Peter raised the issue during question time in Parliament on Tuesday, August 25, asking the Prime Minister to explain why Central had not received its allocated share of the funding.
She said K70 million had been appropriated under the PNG LNG IDG for the five impacted provinces, with K17.4 million earmarked for Central Province.
“The annual appropriation for the PNG LNG IDG funds is portioned among the five impacted provinces,” Ms Peter said.
She said the funding was critical to Central Province’s internal border security development projects, which would improve monitoring of people and vehicles entering and leaving the province.
“The project is a critical infrastructure project that will contribute to monitoring the movement of vehicles and people in and out of Central Province to ensure the safety of the people and the businesses operating in the province, including the general public travelling in and out of the province,” she said.
Governor Peter said the infrastructure would also help address illegal land-grabbing and strengthen the province’s protection against social security and biosecurity risks.
She pointed out that Port Moresby, the nation’s capital, is located within Central Province, making effective border controls particularly important.
Governor Peter said she had been informed that K69 million of the K70 million appropriated for the five provinces had already been released.
She therefore asked Prime Minister Marape to identify the recipients of the funds and clarify what had happened to Central’s K17.4 million allocation.
She further asked whether the Department of National Planning would identify alternative funding within the Public Investment Program (PIP) to cover the K17.4 million and release it to the Central Provincial Government.
Alternatively, she asked whether the Central Provincial Assembly would need to prepare a supplementary budget to account for the missing allocation.
In response, Prime Minister Marape said he would provide an answer at a later date after obtaining the relevant information on the IDG funds.